Want to start a Girls on the Run® team at your school or neighborhood site?

You’ll need:

  • A site liaison
  • A safe place to run
  • Volunteer coaches (see coach job descriptions under “volunteer”
  • A site application

Please read the information below for all the details about starting a site. Then complete a site application. Please contact us with any questions or needs along the way. We are happy to meet with you, or your school administration, to talk further about starting a site.

Potential Sites

GOTR – DC is expanding to sites in elementary schools throughout the city. We could also partner with YMCA’s, YWCA’s, and churches to offer our program in a variety of locations in an effort to reach as many girls as possible.

Site Involvement

GOTR – DC provides almost everything needed to run the program. The site would need to:

  • Provide a contact person at the site (the Site Liaison) to coordinate with GOTR – DC. This can be a staff member, teacher, principal, PTA president, parent and/or interested member of that particular community.
  • Provide a safe place for running.  This does not have to be a track.  A field is fine.  However, there would be a need to measure off part of the area for occasions when lessons require running a certain distance, e.g. 1 mile, 3k, etc.
  • Provide a rain site (classroom, gym, etc.)
  • Choose two days a week for meeting one hour each lesson
  • Distribute registration forms to all girls in age group (3rd –5th for Girls on the Run and 6th – 8th for Girls on Track)
  • Provide a space for the end of season potluck banquet (cafeteria, etc.)
  • Provide a coach or two coaches – Girls on the Run would train these coaches

(The site must provide one coach; GOTR-DC may be able to provide a coach)

Group Size

We prefer a minimum of 8 girls and limit each group to a maximum of 15 girls.  The minimum is based upon both financial and curriculum considerations.  Because much of our curriculum is related to team building and group dynamics, having fewer than 8 girls may make it difficult to provide the experience we want to offer to the girls and more than 15 girls makes it difficult to establish the group rapport and the depth of community we are seeking. A single site may have multiple teams if the site has a large number of interested students.

Fees and Scholarships

Our current fee per session is based on household income.  Girls pay based on a sliding scale. Scholarships are available as well.

Household income Program Fee
$100,000 + $150
$75,000 – $99,999 $120
$60,001- $74,999 $90
$50,000-$60,000 $60
$30,001-$49,999 $30
<$30,000 $10

This is based on the honor system. Also, if a family has two or more daughters in the program, there is $50 discount per additional daughter.

Included in the fee price are:

  • the 20 one-hour lessons conducted by a certified GOTR coach;
  • lesson handouts and materials;
  • Girls on the Run® gear (t-shirt and/or water bottle)
  • Girls on the Run® support for any participation in a 5k race;
  • end of season certificates and awards.

Scholarship Shoe Program: New Balance, one of our corporate sponsors, also helps us to provide free running shoes to those whose financial situations make buying appropriate shoes difficult. If a girl participating in the program needs a pair of running shoes, please contact us.

Ready to complete an application? Click here: New Site Application 1.4.10